Bernardo Arévalo

Bernardo Arévalo
César Bernardo Arévalo de León (born 7 October 1958 in Montevideo) is a Guatemalan diplomat, sociologist, writer, and politician who is the president-elect of Guatemala. He defeated former First Lady, Sandra Torres, in the second round of the 2023 presidential election on 20 August 2023 and will be inaugurated as the 52nd president on 14 January 2024.
Arévalo is the son of former Guatemalan president Juan José Arévalo. A member and co-founder of the political party Semilla, he has served as a deputy in the Congress of Guatemala since January 2020. He previously served as Ambassador to Spain from 1995 to 1996, and as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 1995.
Arévalo's electoral triumph makes him the first son of a former Guatemalan president to also be elected president, the second president to not be born in Guatemalan territory as well as Guatemala's most voted-for candidate in the 21st century, surpassing former president Jimmy Morales (2016–2020). Karin Herrera is his vice-president-elect.
Early life and education
Arévalo was born on 7 October 1958 in Montevideo, Uruguay, the son of Juan José Arévalo, the former President of Guatemala between 1945 and 1951, and his second wife, Margarita de León. At the time of Arévalo's birth, his father was living in political exile in South America following the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état.
Arévalo's family left Uruguay when he was less than two years old, and he spent parts of his childhood living in Venezuela, Mexico and Chile. He went to Guatemala for the first time at the age of 15 in order to study at the Liceo Guatemala, a private Catholic school in Guatemala City.
Arévalo subsequently graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel with a bachelor's degree in sociology before going on to obtain a doctorate in philosophy and social anthropology from Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
Diplomatic career
Arévalo joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the 1980s as a diplomat. Between 1984 and 1986, he was the first secretary and consul at the Guatemalan embassy in Israel, and subsequently acted as minister counsellor from 1987 to 1988.
In 1988, Arévalo returned to Guatemala, where he was appointed as deputy director of strategic studies and planning, again within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He went on to serve as director of bilateral foreign policy from 1990 to 1991; international bilateral relations from 1992 to 1993; and international economic and multilateral relations from 1993 to 1994.
In 1994, President Ramiro de León Carpio appointed Arévalo Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, a role Arévalo held until 1995. During his time as deputy minister, Ernesto Zedillo, the President of Mexico, decorated Arévalo with the Order of the Aztec Eagle in 1995.
In 1995, Foreign Minister Alejandro Maldonado appointed Arévalo as Guatemala's ambassador to Spain; that same year, he presented his credentials to King Juan Carlos I. In 1996, Arévalo left his position as ambassador as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Professional career
After leaving his career as a diplomat, Arévalo served on the board of directors of the , as well as acting as its president. From 1999, Arévalo held various roles at Interpeace, including advising on peacebuilding and conflict resolution in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
In addition to his peacekeeping work, Arrévalo also worked as an advisor to organisations including the United Nations, the United States Institute of Peace, and the University of San Diego. He has written books and articles on topics including history, politics, sociology, and diplomacy.
Political career
In 2015, Arévalo took part in the 2015 Guatemalan protests demanding the resignation of President Otto Pérez Molina. Shortly after the protests, Arévalo was among a group of intellectuals who formed Semilla, a think tank which subsequently was formed into the political party Movimiento Semilla in 2017.
Arévalo was announced as the preferred candidate for Semilla for the 2019 presidential election, but ultimately declined the candidacy. He was succeeded by Thelma Aldana, who was ultimately prohibited from running. Arévalo instead ran as a candidate for Congress on the national list, and was elected as a congressman, taking office on 14 January 2020. As a congressman, he served on several committees, including those on foreign affairs, governance, human rights, national security, and national defence. He also led the Semilla parliamentary bloc between 2020 and 2022.
In 2022, he was elected as the general secretary of Semilla, succeeding Samuel Pérez Álvarez.
2023 presidential campaign
On 22 January 2023, Arévalo was announced as the presidential candidate for Semilla for the 2023 election, running alongside Karin Herrera as his vice-presidential running mate. He was officially registered by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal on 16 February 2023. During his campaign, his supporters referred to him as Tío Bernie, in reference to both his name and also his similarity to American politician and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
Arévalo's campaigning has focused on addressing state corruption and insecurity in Guatemala, as well as generating employment opportunities and promoting climate change policies.
Initial polling by Prensa Libre in April 2023 showed Arévalo ranked next to last among the candidates, with 0.7% of people polled stating their intention to vote for him. Subsequent polls showed support for Arévalo hovering around 2% in June and May 2023.
During the first round of the 2023 election, Arévalo placed second among candidates with over 600,000 votes, and was placed in the second-round run-off with Sandra Torres, a former first lady of Guatemala and candidate of the National Unity of Hope party. Arévalo placing second was described as a "surprise" by El País and BBC News. Semilla also received a large share of the votes, positioning it as the third largest party in the Congress of Guatemala, the Central American Parliament, and the Guatemala City municipal government.
The certification of the results was delayed due to a controversial appeal granted by the Constitutional Court to nine right-wing parties, including the ruling party, Vamos. These parties challenged the result alleging "irregularities" and "electoral fraud" in favour of Arévalo, and went as far as to request a new election be held. The Court ordered a new review of the contested results, which was carried out during the first week of July. The new review found no major changes in the preliminary results. Subsequently, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal made by the parties and authorized the Supreme Electoral Court to formalize the election results.
On 12 July 2023, the TSE formalized the election results; at the same time, prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche of the Public Prosecution Service announced, at the request of Judge Fedy Orellana, the suspension of Semilla due to allegations of falsifying signatures in order to establish the party in 2017. Arévalo in a CNN interview stated that he would challenge the suspension, claiming that the court had "no legal substance" to make the order. Similarly, legal experts affirmed that Orellana did not act in accordance with the country's election laws.
On 13 July 2023, the Constitutional Court, the highest court for constitutional law, reversed Semilla's suspension, allowing the second round of the presidential election to proceed. Nevertheless, demonstrations were organised calling for the resignation of Attorney General María Consuelo Porras, prosecutor Curruchiche, and Judge Orellana. Arévalo and his vice presidential candidate, Karin Herrera, were present at the demonstration and filed a criminal complaint against Curruchiche and Orellana.
Members of the United States Congress called on Joe Biden to impose sanctions on those responsible for "threatening democracy" in Guatemala and expressed concerns about actions being taken against Arévalo's candidacy. Twenty former leaders from Latin America and Spain issued a joint statement condemning attempts made to disqualify Arévalo from the election, and compared it to the recent disqualification of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.
Political positions
Arévalo claims the political legacy of his father Juan José Arévalo and former president Jacobo Árbenz. He has described himself as "social democrat" and is in favor of a republican and democratic system. He believes in a state that guarantees social justice and private property and expresses an interest in establishing a new fiscal pact and strengthening social security.
Education
One of Arévalo's campaign pledges is to adopt a "radically different" public education system. He aims at addressing the poor conditions found in primary and secondary schools by investing Q110 billion which would go towards creating 70,000 new classrooms, 29.5 million textbooks, 36,000 new restrooms for faculty and students, and monthly scholarships of Q3,600 for students.
Health
Arévalo favors universal healthcare. He proposes a Q61 billion government budget to cover 7 million people by building 400 new health posts and 50 health centers for regions of more than 15,000 residents and isolated rural areas.
Arévalo also commits to the construction of a public hospital that specializes in cancer treatment.
Foreign policy
Arévalo is in favor of improving trade relations with China, but also desires to maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan. On 20 July in an interview with República, he reassured his interest in building a relationship with China based on "developing and expanding" economic relations.
Arévalo has condemned the government of Nicaragua, and has described the governments of Nicaragua and Venezuela as "dictatorial systems". In March 2022, Arévalo was the rapporteur of a legislative proposal that sought to urge President Alejandro Giammattei to take action against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The proposal included the cancellation of the mining license of the Compañía Guatemalteca de Níquel, a nickel-mining company that is owned by the Russian company Solway Investment Group. In addition, the legislation called for the cancellation of the contract with the Russian government in regards to the Sputnik V vaccines.
Personal life
Arévalo has been married three times. In 1983 he married Argentine citizen Teresa Lapín Ganman; they divorced in 1992. The following year, Arévalo married Eva Rivara Figueroa, a fellow diplomat, with whom he had two daughters. Since 2011, Arévalo has been married to Lucrecia Peinado. He has three daughters and 3 stepchildren.
In addition to his native Spanish, Arévalo speaks English, Hebrew, French and Portuguese.
Honors
Order of the Aztec Eagle (Mexico, 1995)
References
External links
Website of Bernardo Arévalo
Twitter of Bernardo Arévalo
CIDOB Biography
1958 births
Living people
Politicians from Montevideo
Members of the Congress of Guatemala
Ambassadors of Guatemala to Spain
Movimiento Semilla politicians
Candidates for President of Guatemala
Children of presidents of Guatemala
Guatemalan academics
Guatemalan diplomats
Guatemalan sociologists
Guatemalan writers
Uruguayan people of Guatemalan descent
Guatemalan expatriates in Chile
Guatemalan expatriates in Israel
Guatemalan expatriates in Mexico
Guatemalan expatriates in the Netherlands
Guatemalan expatriates in Venezuela
Uruguayan expatriates in Chile
Uruguayan expatriates in Israel
Uruguayan expatriates in Mexico
Uruguayan expatriates in the Netherlands
Uruguayan expatriates in Venezuela
Social anthropologists
Utrecht University alumni
Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni
20th-century Guatemalan politicians
21st-century Guatemalan politicians